The Swiss Stock Market Climbed On Comments From Janet Yellen

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market finished solidly in positive territory on Thursday, bouncing back from recent weakness. Investor sentiment received a boost from dovish comments from Janet Yellen, the nominee to become the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Yellen warned that unemployment remains too high for the Fed to consider significantly scaling back its $85 billion a month in asset purchases. The statement eased recent investor concerns that the central bank would begin tapering its stimulus measures sooner rather than later, which were sparked by the U.S. jobs report for October last week.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.85 percent Thursday and finished at 8,304.97. The Swiss Leader Index climbed by 0.84 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.81 percent.

Zurich Insurance climbed by 2.5 percent Thursday, after its results for the first 9 months of the year exceeded expectations. However, Bâloise did not fare quite as well. The stock rose by 0.3 percent following its third quarter report.

Financial stocks staged a comeback from some recent weakness. Credit Suisse and UBS both rose by 1.2 percent each. Julius Baer also advanced by 1.8 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished with gains Thursday. Roche increased by 0.9 percent and Novartis added 0.4 percent. Nestle also finished higher by 0.8 percent.